Mobile Device Management System

ABSTRACT

A mobile device management system including a method for monitoring a remote video camera and event scheduling, synchronization and modification using location information. Video from a remote camera is encoded by a computer and streamed in real time over a network to a mobile device for decoding and display. The computer encoder and mobile device decoder are software-based. Event calendar and schedule information is incorporated, shared and automatically updated among multiple mobile devices. Location information, such as from a locator network or a satellite-based global positioning system, is used to provide real time updates to a mobile device calendar or event schedule. A map or other indicia of the location of other mobile devices may be provided.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to mobile communication systems and, inparticular, relates to a mobile device management system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The industrialized world is becoming increasingly reliant on mobiletechnologies, such as wireless voice and data transmission. In additionto voice and data transmission, users now demand useful and innovativevideo and multimedia applications that are supported by their cellphones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). One video applicationthat would be of particular utility to a mobile device user is theability to view and monitor feed from a remote video camera on theirmobile device. The delivery of live video feed generally requiresbroadband transmission media capable of supporting a very high data ratesignal. Wireless systems, however, are typically characterized by lowerdevice processing power and channels having reduced bandwidth and lowerreliability. Hence, the receipt and display of video feed from a remotecamera on a mobile device is difficult to achieve over a wireless link.

Mobile device users also demand reliable and innovative mechanisms forupdating personal data, such as calendar and scheduling information,that is stored on their mobile devices. The ability to update calendarand schedule information with real time location information about othermobile device users with whom the user is scheduled to or desires tointeract would be particularly invaluable. Typically, however, personaldata stored on a mobile device is updated via synchronization with alarger system such as a server or personal computer. The mobile deviceusually must be cabled to the system for update of personal data andcalendar information, and the updates are often user-initiated ratherthan system-driven or automatic. Real time, automatic updating ofcalendar information incorporating location information about othermobile devices is not provided by current systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention is a system for monitoring a remote cameraon a mobile device. Live video images from the remote camera arecaptured and streamed in real time over a network to the mobile device.The images may be encoded prior to streaming with a software-basedencoder, and decoded by the mobile device using a software-based videodecoder. Control signals may be sent from the mobile device to thecamera to remotely control the camera. Modifications to standard videocompression and streaming protocols are provided to better suit a mobiledevice environment.

Another aspect of this invention is a system for mobile device eventmanagement, using location and calendar information. Calendar andlocation information is shared among multiple devices and used toschedule, re-schedule and manage events. The relative proximity of themobile devices may be displayed.

Additional features, aspects and improvements of this invention will beapparent after review of the following figures and detailed description,and are intended to be within the scope of this invention and protectedby the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an inventive mobile device video monitoringsystem.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the components of the mobiledevice of FIG. 1 in more detail.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the components of the computersystem of FIG. 1 in more detail.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an inventive method for delivering anddisplaying video on a mobile device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an inventive peer-to-peer mobile deviceevent scheduling system.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an inventive mobile device event schedulingsystem.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an inventive method for mobile device eventscheduling.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an inventive network of fixed location devicesfor assisting in mobile device event scheduling and location.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a comprehensive system for mobile devicemanagement. It includes a system for monitoring, receiving anddisplaying video feed from a remote camera on a mobile device, and asystem for real time mobile device event management using calendar andlocation information. Drawbacks associated with existing eventscheduling methodologies are overcome by incorporating real timelocation information and video feed into a robust system of mobilitymanagement that has application in several practical areas, includingsurveillance, safety and security.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless video monitoring system 100. Videomonitoring system 100 has broad application and may be implementedwherever it is advantageous to use a mobile or wireless device (such asa cellular telephone) to monitor images captured by a remote camera.With monitoring system 100, for example, a mobile device can be employedto monitor one's home while on vacation, or to monitor the babysitter orthe pets. As will be described below, the present invention even allowsthe mobile device user to issue control signals to the camera to changethe video feed that is received by the mobile device.

Referring to FIG. 1, mobile device 105 is coupled to cell network 120over air interface 110. Computer 140 delivers a live video image fromcamera 145 to mobile device 105 via network connection 135,packet-switched network 130 and cell network 120. Cell network 120 canbe a public or private cellular network providing the necessaryarchitecture for mobile call maintenance, including base stationsubsystem(s), mobile switching center(s), location registries and otherinfrastructure components. In one embodiment, cell network 120 is apublic, wireless wide area network (W-WAN) supporting one or moremultiple access schemes (i.e., TDMA, CDMA, etc.) and coupled to theInternet.

Packet-switched network 130 is a public or private wide area network(WAN) or local area network (LAN) supporting transport services fordelivering video packets between camera 145 and mobile device 105. Inone embodiment, network 130 is a private intranet supporting aproprietary packet transport mechanism. In another embodiment, network130 is the Internet and supports the transmission control protocol (TCP)and Internet protocol (IP). In this embodiment, computer 140 isconfigured with either a static or dynamic IP address. Mobile device 105can be manually configured with the IP address of computer 140, orconfigured to receive the IP address of computer 140 dynamically, usingfor example, the short message service (SMS) protocol to communicate theIP addressing information.

Network connection 135 can use a variety of data communicationtechnologies to connect computer 140 to packet-switched network 130. Ifnetwork 130 is the Internet, computer 140 can connect to Internet 130using an Internet service provider (ISP) under a variety of connectivityoptions, including cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), or asynchronousdial-up access over the public switched telephone network (PSTN) using aconventional modem. Network connection 135 can also be a high-speeddedicated circuit running between an ISP and computer 140. Networkconnection 135 can itself incorporate a wireless data communicationlink. The test results described were achieved using a cable modem toconnect between computer 140 and packet-switched network (Internet) 130.

Mobile device 105 may be one of many widely available wirelesscommunication devices, such as a cellular telephone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a laptop personal computer equipped with a wirelessmodem or even a smart mobile television. Exemplary implementations ofmobile device 105 include a Sharp® code division multiple access (CDMA)cellular telephone (used by the inventors as a prototype) and a Palm™handheld device with wireless capability. System 100 supports truedevice independence and is uniquely tailored to run on nearly all thirdgeneration CDMA phones on the market.

FIG. 2 illustrates mobile device 105 in more detail. Radio frequency(RF) section 205 is coupled to antenna 210 for receiving andtransmitting RF signals. RF section 205 communicates with basebandsection 215 over bus 220. Baseband section 215 comprises a processor 225for voice and data signal processing. Baseband section 215 stores andretrieves data from random access memory (RAM) 230 over memory bus 235.Baseband section 215 also communicates with user interface 240 overinterface bus 245. User interface 240 typically comprises a display 255for displaying text, graphics or video, a keypad 270 for entering dataand dialing, and an audio system 260, such as a speaker.

Mobile device 105 is preferably configured with a software video decoder250 for decoding video signals. Mobile device 105 may also be configuredwith a software video encoder 290 for encoding and transmitting videocontrol information. By implementing the encoding and decoding processesin software, system 100 is device and processor independent. In otherwords, viewing a video bit stream is possible on any mobile devicebecause the video decoder and encoder are implemented in software ratherthan embedded or hard-coded for operation on a particular wirelessdevice chipset.

Use of an application programming interface (API) provides theabstraction layer needed to support device and processor independence.Function calls from decoder 250 can be written to conform to aparticular API, such as Sun Microsystems® Inc.'s Java 2 micro edition(J2ME) or Qualcomm® Inc.'s binary runtime environment for wireless(BREW), instead of to a particular chip (i.e., processor). If theencoding and decoding software is written in BREW, for example, thevideo decoder and encoder can be loaded and run on any mobile devicethat supports BREW. An API such as BREW is also useful for providing thenecessary IP connectivity. Video decoder 250 can be written to passIP-related function calls to the BREW API, which will then handle thedetails of establishing a link between mobile device 105 and computer140.

The achievable frame rate, video rendering quality and performance arefunctions of the processing power and memory at the disposal of mobiledevice 105. For delay-sensitive live video feed, for example, arelatively fast processor is needed to eliminate frame latency. During asystem test, the inventors achieved six frames per second using anadvanced RISC machine (ARM) 7 processor with 100 kilobytes of RAMembedded in a Qualcomm® MSM 3100 chipset in a prototype Sharp® CDMA cellphone.

Video encoder 290 may send control data over cell network 120 andpacket-switched network 130 to computer 140 to control camera 145.Hence, a mobile user can remotely control basic camera functions, suchas pan, zoom, and tilt, from device 105. Video encoder 290 is preferablya software-based video encoder loaded into RAM 230. A mobile device 105including both decoder 250 and encoder 290 supports full duplexoperation with live video feed in one direction (from camera 145 tomobile device 105) and control information in the other direction (frommobile device 105 to camera 145).

The protocol used to stream video can be a standard packet-based videocompression protocol such as the MPEG4 video compression standard,modified to control special features and limitations of the presentinvention. The video frame flow control mechanism is modified toaccommodate the relatively limited amount of mobile device frame bufferspace that is available. Device 105 waits until assembly of a completemulti-packet video frame is complete before signaling computer 140(typically with a one byte header) to send another frame. Computer 140waits for receipt of this header before sending another video frame tothe mobile device. This differs from conventional TCP protocol and isadvantageous because MPEG4 video decoding is resource and bandwidthintensive while device 105 is typically bandwidth limited. The prototypeCDMA phone used in the inventors' tests, for example, had a useable 14kilobits per second of bandwidth.

Since a typical mobile device will lack the storage capacity topermanently store an incoming video image or stream, another importantfeature of system 100 is configuring the size and resolution of mobiledevice display 255 to best take advantage of the available storagecapacity. Display 255 may be an LCD panel having a resolution largeenough to accurately distinguish and render a video image. In oneembodiment, display 255 is a color display capable of supporting anMPEG4 compressed video bit stream. Other display technologies anddisplay enhancements commonly found on wireless devices, such aswindowing and backlighting, are supported by system 100. The videodisplay features of the API that is used, such as BREW, can be employedto effect display of the video image. Satisfactory results were achievedin a laboratory prototype developed by the inventors that included acell phone having a 256 color, (8-bit) 128×144 pixel display supportinga video image having a frame size of 128 pixels tall by 96 pixels wide.

A computer system 300 including computer 140 and camera 145 isillustrated in more detail in FIG. 3. Computer 140 preferably has asoftware-based video encoder 303 and may be configured to operate as avideo server. This is a significant departure from streaming videosystems which employ hardware-based video encoders. A software videoencoder provides many advantages, including efficient resourceutilization and no special hardware requirements. So long as it has theminimum components needed to load and run a software video encoder,computer 140 may be a conventional desktop computer including componentssuch as a processor 302, a dynamic memory (RAM) 304 and a static memory(ROM) 306 coupled via a bus 301 or other communication mechanism. Anexternal storage device 307, such as a magnetic or optical disk,input/output devices 309, such as a keyboard and a monitor, and anetwork adapter 310, such as a network interface card (NIC), may also becoupled to computer 140.

Video camera 145 may be any camera capable of capturing and streaming avideo image to computer 140 for transmission to mobile device 105.Connectivity between computer 140 and camera 145 can be a simpleuniversal serial bus (USB) or other serial cable connector. The videogenerated by camera 145 may be a still image, such as an imagepresentable in PEG format, or a component of a live streaming videofeed, such as a feed presentable in MPEG4 format.

As mentioned, computer 140 is preferably configured with a softwarevideo encoder 303 stored in the dynamic memory or RAM 304. As describedwith respect to mobile device 105, hardware independence is achieved bythe use of a software-based decoder. The video decoding software iswritten to a particular operating system API, such as Microsoft Windows®or Linux®, rather than embedded or hard-coded for operation on aparticular processor. The prototype computer used by the inventorsincluded an Intel Pentium® III processor running Microsoft Windows®.

Computer 140 may be deployed in a client/server environment havingmultiple mobile devices, video cameras and servers. Mobile device 105typically acts as a client (video decoder 250) and computer 140 acts asa server (video encoder 303). Additionally, as described, mobile device105 may include software-based video encoder 290 for transmitting cameracontrol signals to computer 140.

FIG. 4 depicts a method 400 for delivering video from camera 145 tomobile device 105 for display. In step 405, connectivity is establishedbetween mobile device 105 and computer 140. In step 410, computer 140captures a live video image from camera 145. In step 415, computer 140stores the captured image on a storage device, such as storage device107. Alternatively, the video can be stored on a storage device locatedwithin or associated with network 130. In step 420, computer 140 encodesand streams the video image to mobile device 105 over packet-switchednetwork 130 and cell network 120. In step 425, mobile device 105,receives, decodes and displays the video image on display 255. Aspreviously described, device 105 waits for receipt of a completemulti-packet video frame before signaling computer 140 to send anotherframe.

Several modes of operation are envisioned. In a “live” mode, the mobileuser may simply view live video feed in real time. In a “history” mode,computer 140 may assemble and deliver to mobile device 105 a summaryfile containing images of significant activity only. Timestamps mayaccompany the images logged' in the summary file. A motion detector, forexample, may be coupled to or proximate camera 145, and only thoseportions of video feed in which motion occurs would be deemed“significant” by computer 140 and added to the summary file. In an“alert” mode, a real time alert along with video feed may be provided tothe mobile device user upon motion detection. The history and alertmodes are very useful for security and surveillance applications.

Another aspect of this invention is a system and method for real timemobile device event scheduling, synchronization and modification, usinglocation information. Intelligent event calendar and scheduleinformation is incorporated and shared among multiple mobile devices. Afirst mobile device updates its calendar/event schedule by obtaininglocation and calendar information from a second mobile device. Thelocation information may be obtained with the assistance of a globalpositioning system (GPS) and used to graphically represent the locationof the second mobile device on the display of the first mobile device.Audible or visible indicia of the proximity of the second device canalso be provided, such as by a beeping sound or an LED.

FIG. 5 depicts mobile device event management system 500 for managingevents between mobile device 105 and a second mobile device 520. Mobiledevice 105 comprises, in addition to the components discussed withrespect to FIG. 2, event manager 505, calendar query module 510, andlocation query module 515, which are preferably implemented in software(i.e., executable in RAM 230) using a suitable API, such as BREW orJava. Calendar query module 510 queries a second mobile device 520 overwireless channel 525 to obtain information stored in its calendar 530.Location query module 515 queries a locator system 550, such as asatellite-based GPS, over wireless channel 560 to obtain the location ofsecond mobile device 520. Modules 510 and 515 communicate with manager505 via busses 570 and 580.

The peer-to-peer implementation of system 500 depicted in FIG. 5 iseffective for managing events, such as schedule creation andsynchronization, between two mobile devices 105 and 520. A server couldalso be added to system 500 to permit shared calendar and eventsynchronization, update and modification among many users.

Mobile device 520, like mobile device 105, may be any of a wide array ofmobile communication products, including cellular telephones, personaldigital assistants, portable personal computers with wirelesscapability, and the like. Likewise, channel 525 may be any of a largenumber of wireless air interfaces available for establishing a wirelesslink. For example, channel 525 can be a public or private W-WAN orW-LAN, such as a personal communication service (PCS) network usingCDMA, a global system for mobile communication (GSM) network using timedivision multiple access (TDMA), and/or even a local wireless personalarea network (PAN) incorporating Bluetooth™ technology.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method 600 for mobile device event management. Instep 605, a first mobile device, such as device 105 of FIG. 5, queriesand obtains calendar information from a second mobile device, such asdevice 520. The user of device 105, for example, may want to schedule ameeting with the user of device 520. Step 605 can be performed, forexample, by calendar query module 510. The calendar information maycomprise any of the information typically found in modern calendarapplications, such as meeting location, date, and time. From thisinformation, in step 610, the event manager of the first mobile devicedetermines the availability of the second mobile device for purposes ofcreating, rescheduling, or canceling an event.

In step 615, the first mobile device obtains the location of the secondmobile device. Step 615 can be performed, for example, by location querymodule 515. The location information may be obtained using a globalpositioning system (GPS) and may take the form of latitude or longitudedata. This information is used to determine the relative proximity ofthe second mobile device to the first mobile device. In step 620, theevent manager of the first mobile device schedules an event based on thelocation and calendar information obtained from the second mobiledevice.

Event management may include checking the status of and updating anexisting event. Method steps 605-620 can be used by a first mobiledevice, for example, to determine whether the user of a second mobiledevice will be on time to a scheduled event. By considering the currenttime, the time that the event is scheduled and the relative proximity ofthe two devices, it can be determined whether a scheduled event will belate (step 625). If the second user will be late but the event can stillproceed (step 630), the user of the first (querying) mobile device maybe alerted that the scheduled event is going to be late or cancelled,and the relative proximity of the second mobile device can be displayed(step 635). If the event is going to be missed completely, in step 640,the two mobile devices can coordinate a re-scheduling of the event.

Not all steps of method 600 will are performed in each instance. When amobile device contacts another mobile device to schedule an event in thedistant future, for example, steps 610 and 615 may be omitted since itis only necessary to determine the other device's availability. Itscurrent location is not relevant so far in advance of the event.Likewise, a device may sometimes be interested only in the currentlocation of another device, and not in its calendar information.

Method 600 may also be used to track the location/proximity of anothermobile device. This location/proximity information may be displayed in asimple fashion, for example, by analyzing the longitude/latitudeinformation of each party, scaling this information to the devicedisplay size, and then displaying relative proximity through the use ofspaced dots. More complex displays may be used if device display andcapability permits. Location boundaries may be established for a firstmobile device, and an alert may be provided to a second mobile device ifthe first mobile device has left those boundaries. This can be extremelyuseful for monitoring children and pets, for example.

FIG. 7 demonstrates an example of method 600 in action. A first mobiledevice 702 and a second mobile device 704 are configured with eventmanagers, location query modules and calendar query modules as describedwith reference to mobile device 105. In the example illustrated in FIG.7, first mobile device 702 belongs to a father and second mobile device704 belongs to his son. Before his morning commute, father synchronizesthe calendar information stored in his mobile device 702 with theinformation stored in his home calendar 706. Home calendar 706 may bestored in, for example, father's home computer. Synchronization may beperformed in a known matter Over a cable or wireless link. In thisexample, one event is added to the calendar information stored infather's mobile device 702: event A, a doctor's appointment at 10:00a.m.

On his way to work, father's mobile device 702 is queried by son'smobile device 704 for his availability to attend son's soccer game thatnight at 6 p.m. (i.e., step 605 in FIG. 6). From father's calendarinformation, son's mobile device determines that father is available(step 610) and the event (“B”) is scheduled on father's mobile device(step 620).

When father arrives at his office, father again synchronizes thecalendar information stored in his mobile device 702, this time with theinformation stored in his office calendar 708. Office calendar 708 maybe stored in, for example, father's office computer. Synchronization maybe performed in a known matter over a cable or wireless link. Two moreevents are added to the calendar information stored in father's mobiledevice 702: event C: a staff meeting at 1:00 p.m.; and event D, aconference call at 4:00 p.m.

As the day progresses and son's soccer game draws near, son's mobiledevice 604 automatically queries and obtains the location of father'smobile device 602 to determine whether father will be on time for son'ssoccer game. If, for example, father's 4:00 p.m. conference call runslate, the location query module of son's mobile device 604 will notethat father's mobile device 602 is still located at father's office, andcan provide an alert on son's mobile device display that father willlikely be late. Son's mobile device 604 may also modify its storedcalendar information to reflect the fact that father will be late.

When father leaves his conference call, he becomes delayed in a trafficjam. The location query module of son's mobile device notes the locationof father's mobile device and alerts son's mobile device that father isrunning even later or perhaps will miss the game entirely. Father'smobile device 602, conversely, can help father make the game byproviding a suggestion for a less congested alternate route with realtime directions and a visual map of the alternate route. Suchinformation may be obtained from the Internet, for example. Son's mobiledevice 604 may display the relative proximity of father's mobile device602 and, when son's location query module confirms that father's mobiledevice 602 is within a defined proximity (i.e., within five miles of thesoccer field), it may cause son's mobile device to issue an appropriatealert (i.e., beeping, flashing, vibrating, etc.).

Father's mobile device event scheduler may also be configured to issuealerts to the mobile devices of all users with whom he is scheduled tomeet in the event that father's schedule unexpectedly changes. If fatheris called away on an emergency business trip, for example, father'smobile device 602 may automatically alert son's mobile device 604 thatfather will miss son's soccer game entirely.

Real time location information is typically gathered using a locatornetwork of fixed location devices, such as cellular base stations. Inrural or obstructed urban areas, however, there may be no base stationcoverage. While a GPS reading may be possible in these areas, somelocations are impenetrable even to a satellite, such as in the basementof a high-rise building. Thus, the present invention contemplatesextending the physical reach of real time event scheduling through theuse of strategically placed locator networks.

FIG. 8 shows a mobile device 105 passing through a series of overlappingwireless coverage areas, including cell network 805 and coverageprovided by satellite 835. When mobile device 105 enters the undergroundparking garage 825 of office building 810, however, it will likely losethe coverage previously provided by cell network 805. Neither cell norsatellite coverage may be available within the entire interior ofbuilding 810 Typically, neither coverage by cell network 805, norsatellite system coverage from satellite 835 will extend to the interiorof building 810.

A network of fixed location devices 850 is provided throughout building810 to extend the range of wireless coverage so that the systems andmethods for wireless device event scheduling can be effectively deployedin a locale. In FIG. 8, each floor as well as the parking garage isshown as having a fixed location device 805. Fixed location devices 850may be any intelligent device that can be networked together to enableend-to-end wireless communication with another device. They willtypically employ a short range wireless technology such as wireless LAN,Bluetooth or the like. Fixed location devices 850 may be implemented in,for example, a vending machine network, interconnected to feed locationinformation on mobile device 105 back through the cellular network via adirect connection to the cell core or via a fixed location that iswithin the coverage area of network 805. As mobile device 105 transitsbuilding 810, its location is tracked by the fixed location devices andultimately relayed back to cellular network, enabling real time eventscheduling and updating to continue even while device 105 is outside thecoverage area of a traditional wireless network.

The use of fixed location devices in the context of an office buildingis just one example of the range extending aspects of the presentinvention. In rural areas without cellular coverage, location and otherinformation from one mobile device could be passed from car to car viafixed location equipment contained in the cars (via a wireless LANmodule, Bluetooth or other short range technology) until one carcarrying the information enters the range of a cellular network and theinformation is able to hop on to the network. VoIP could possibly beused to transmit voice signals in such situations as well.

Combining these two examples, a backpacker's mobile device might attemptto send location or calendar information in a rural area with nocoverage and little auto traffic. The rural area might have, however, avending machine equipped with a fixed location short range wirelessdevice. The vending machine stores the backpackers information until apassing car, also equipped with a fixed location device, receives thebackpacker's data from the vending machine and then passes it to othercars, one eventually entering the coverage area of a cellular network.

Other types of valuable information might also be conveyed in thismanner. In the event of an auto accident, for instance, emergencysignals might be sent from car to car (via wireless LAN modules or thelike) from the point of the accident to warn approaching cars of theaccident ahead and to alert police and emergency personnel. Automobilesmight also be equipped with a camera and appropriate computer hardware,including a video encoder as previously described. In the event of a cartheft, live images of the thief as well as location information could beconveyed to law enforcement authorities in the manner described to helpto quickly thwart the crime. Cameras may be configured to takephotographs both inside and outside the automobile to assist inidentification and location determination. Combined with the examplesdescribed above, a thief could not escape the law even by driving into aparking garage (assuming it is equipped with fixed location devices). Inthe example of an automobile, it should be noted that locator devicessuch as OnStar from OnStar Corp. could alternately be used to providethe location information.

The information gathered using the mobile device event scheduling andlocation determination techniques of this invention may be used inadditional advantageous ways. A mobile device may be provided withappropriate software to track and store this calendar and locationinformation, and to thereby gradually learn the habits, likes anddislikes of the device user. The device may learn, for example, when itsuser leaves for work, how the user drives to work and when and how itreturns home. The device may learn where and at what time the user likesto each lunch. Eventually, the mobile device can develop aknowledge-based “personality” that reflects the user's personality, andmight even make suggestions to the user. If the user is in an unfamiliarcity, for example, the device may know that the user likes Chinese food(from his many scheduled lunches at Chinese restaurants, for example),and may obtain information from the Internet about nearby Chineserestaurants and their locations. Based on this information, the devicecan suggest and schedule a lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant.

This knowledge-based application of the present invention can beextended to applications other than conventional mobile communicationdevices. One's dog could be equipped with a wireless collar, forexample, that tracks the dog's location as well as gathers dataindicative of the dogs health. Where warranted, the collar couldautomatically generate a recommendation that a vet appointment bescheduled, and query the owner's mobile device (as described) torecommend an appointment time. Similarly, an Alzheimer's patient couldbe tracked using a wirelessly equipped wristband to feed locationinformation back to a caregiver's event scheduler, perhaps to know whena medication dose is next needed.

Numerous embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed herein. It should be understood, however, that these have beenpresented by way of example only, and not as limitations. The breadthand scope of the present invention is defined by the following claimsand their equivalents, and is not limited by the particular embodimentsdescribed herein.

1. A wireless video monitoring system comprising: a camera for capturinga live video image; a computer coupled to, the camera and comprising asoftware-based video encoder for encoding and streaming the video image;and a mobile device comprising a software-based video decoder forreceiving, decoding and displaying the video image.
 2. A system asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the mobile device further comprises asoftware-based video encoder for encoding and transmitting controlinformation to the camera.
 3. A system as claimed in claim 2, whereinthe control information controls basic camera functions.
 4. A system asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the video images are encoded by the computeras multi-packet MPEG frames and streamed sequentially to the mobiledevice, and wherein the mobile device completes assembly of eachreceived frame before signaling the computer to send the next frame. 5.A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises adisplay configured to best take advantage of the available storagecapacity of the mobile device.
 6. A method for wireless monitoring on amobile device comprising: receiving an encoded video stream from aremote camera; decoding and displaying the video stream on the mobiledevice.
 7. A method as claimed in claim 6, and further comprising:encoding control signals and transmitting the encoded control signalsfrom the mobile device to the camera to control basic camera functions.8. A method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the encoded video streamcomprises a real-time video feed.
 9. A method as claimed in claim 6,wherein the encoded video stream comprises a summary file of imagescontaining significant activity.
 10. A method as claimed in claim 9,wherein the summary file contains images in which motion was detected.11. A method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the encoded video stream isreceived only when significant activity occurs and is accompanied by analert to the user of the mobile device.
 12. An event management systemfor a mobile device comprising: a calendar query module for obtainingcalendar information from a second mobile device; a location querymodule for obtaining location information from the second mobile device;and an event scheduler for scheduling an event based on the location andcalendar information obtained from the second mobile device.
 13. Asystem as claimed in claim 12, wherein the location query modulecomprises a GPS receiver.
 14. A system as claimed in claim 12, andfurther comprising a display for displaying the relative proximity ofthe second mobile device.
 15. A system as claimed in claim 12, andfurther comprising an alert system for alerting a user of the mobiledevice when the second mobile device enters or leaves a pre-definedgeographical area.
 16. A system as claimed in claim 1, and furthercomprising a network of fixed location, short-range wireless devices forstoring and tracking the location of the second mobile device when thesecond mobile device is not within the range of a conventional cellularor satellite communications network.
 17. A method for mobile deviceevent management comprising: obtaining calendar information with a firstmobile device from a second mobile device; obtaining locationinformation with the first mobile device from the second mobile device;and managing an event between the first and second mobile devices basedon the obtained location and calendar information.
 18. A method asclaimed in claim 17, wherein the managing step comprises: scheduling anevent with the first mobile device when the obtained location andcalendar information indicates that the second mobile device isavailable for the event.
 19. A method as claimed in claim 17, whereinthe managing step comprises: analyzing the obtained location andcalendar information to determine whether the second mobile device willbe on time for an event scheduled with the first mobile device.
 20. Amethod as claimed in claim 19, wherein the relative proximity of thesecond mobile device is displayed on the first mobile device.
 21. Amethod as claimed in claim 19, wherein an alert is issued on the firstmobile device if it is determined that the second mobile device will notbe on time for the scheduled event.
 22. A mobile device managementsystem comprising: a wireless monitoring system for monitoring videofeed from a remote camera, the monitoring system comprising means forreceiving, decoding and displaying video feed from the remote camera;and an event management system for managing events with other mobiledevices, comprising means for obtaining calendar and locationinformation from the other mobile devices.